The commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization...

October 30, 1985|By New York Times News Service.

WASHINGTON — The commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service said Monday he expects disciplinary action to be taken against two Border Patrol agents who forcibly returned a Soviet seaman to his ship last month.

In an interview, the commissioner, Alan Nelson, conceded that ``there obviously were mistakes made.`` He added, ``Our agents did make a mistake in not following the guidelines`` after the Ukrainian sailor, Miroslav Medvid, jumped from the freighter into the Mississippi River near New Orleans.

Nelson said the agency had submitted a report to the Justice Department detailing the mistakes made by the two agents, who have not been publicly identified.

The report, more than 100 pages long, says the border agents acted hastily and violated agency regulations by returning Medvid to the Soviet freighter, the Marshal Konev, without consulting immigration supervisors, according to Reagan administration officials.

Nelson said he would delay a decision on how to discipline the agents until after meeting this week with the agency`s Southern regional director.

``I`m expecting disciplinary action will be recommended,`` he said.

A Justice Department official who asked not to be identified said punishments for the two agents could range from letters of reprimand to dismissal. While the official would not speculate on the action to be taken against the agents, he said, ``We consider this a very, very serious mistake.``

The State Department subsequently arranged the removal of the sailor from the ship and interviewed him. In those discussions, the department said, Medvid said repeatedly that he wanted to go back to the Soviet Union. He was permitted to reboard the ship, which left U.S. waters over the weekend with him aboard.

The department had requested Nelson`s report as part of an inquiry ordered by Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese into the episode. Department officials said the immigration report would be reviewed by Meese and D. Lowell Jensen, the deputy attorney general.

In the interview, Nelson said the incident had been an ``embarrassment``

to the immigration service and ``had some very significant impacts`` that would lead to changes in the immigration procedures used for dealing with potential defectors.

But, he said, ``we do think the existing procedures are fundamentally sound and, if properly followed, would have avoided this.``

Over his protests, Medvid was returned to the ship at about midnight on Oct. 25, only a few hours after he jumped from the grain freighter. According to Nelson, the border agents ``should have retained Mr. Medvid at least overnight.`` The agents have said that they did not believe Medvid was seeking political asylum.

Nelson would not discuss many details of the report provided to the Justice Department but said its conclusions were similar to those made last week in his testimony before a Senate panel.

In that testimony, Nelson said the agents had violated immigration regulations when they failed to inform their superiors immediately that Medvid had jumped ship. Under those regulations, Medvid, because he was a Soviet citizen, was entitled to special consideration before being returned.